FRANK KIMBROUGH - INDUCTEE #5
hall of fame fast fact:
Daughter Beth Oliver remembers Frank Kimbrough as a dad "who watched his nickels and dimes," and longtime WT broadcaster Warren Hasse confirmed that. Hasse remembers the time Kimbrough's team played Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) in El Paso. "Frank would take the kids into Mexico to a nice restaurant to get a seven-course meal there and save a lot of money," Hasse said. "He'd also shop for his after-shave lotion there and take it home."
Frank Kimbrough
The memory of Frank Kimbrough as an athletic legend lives on every fall weekend when football is played in Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon. Canyon’s Buffalo Bowl was renamed Kimbrough Stadium in 1971 to honor the man who served as WT’s coach and athletic director from 1947 to 1971.
Kimbrough became WT’s head football coach in 1947 after coaching stints at Wayland College, Plainview High School, Amarillo College, Hardin-Simmons, and Baylor. His teams at Amarillo College won state junior college championships in 1933 and 1934. His career coaching record was 117-78-8.
World War II interrupted Kimbrough’s coaching career; he spent two years in the Navy.
Following his coaching career, Kimbrough became WT’s athletic director from 1957 to 1970. He hired legendary WT coach Joe Kerbel in 1960, together they negotiated WT’s eventual move into the Missouri Valley Conference.
Kimbrough suffered a heart attack and died in 1971 at the age of 66.
